In Shakespeare's day, miners thought underground metals...

INFORMED SOURCE

In Shakespeare's day, miners thought underground metals grew as seeds grow. So they shut down their operations from time to time to let said metals restart.

Q. Voltaire's mistress, Emilie, with whom he lived for 15 years, was married. What happened to her husband when Voltaire moved into their country home?

A. He stayed on. Ate with the kids.

Research into the vernacular turns up far more synonyms for enemy than for friend. For drunk than for sober. For death than for birth. Explain the why of that.

To your weapons file, add this: That gasoline firebomb known as the Molotov Cocktail was neither invented nor named by Russians, but by Finns.

Q. Why was King Henry VIII called ''old pudding face''?

A. He so fattened his face on puddings it started to look like one, according to the historical footnotes.

A dolphin mother when separated from her baby will make a noise like no other noise she ever makes. Why is it unique for that one situation? How did she learn it? What makes the baby recognize it? Nobody knows.